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TITIA N SUE KEECH: 

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M 

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A Y 
D K 
Y I 
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T 

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“YOU COULD PLAINLY SEE THE MAN IN IT, 
AND HE FROWNED.” 
















Copyright 1923 

By Dorrance & Company Inc 



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Manufactured in tha United 9tatea of America 


MAR 19 *23 

© Cl A698833 


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Iriiirateii to ttj* Sr*am 


Go forth, dear little dream child, 
That strayed to me one night, 
When crickets chirped, and tall grass 
waved 

And stars were shining bright. 

If other children care for you 
And clasp your little hand,— 

Then take them, skipping on with 
you, 

To your enchanted land. 




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CONTENTS 

PART ONE 

Tommykins Goes to the Moon.. 13 

PART TWO 

Tommykins Visits the Tree-Toad. 55 












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ILLUSTRATIONS 


“You could plainly see the Man in it, and he 

frowned.” . 12 

“ ‘Yes,’ Mrs. Owl answered crossly, ‘fly 

around while I take care of the nest.’ . 24 

“They all stopped dancing and stood around 

Tommykins.” . 78 

“Turning, he saw a Rabbit who held out a 

lettuce leaf to him.” . 82 

“A very, very old face appeared from the 

side of the tree.” . 90 

“To his surprise he noticed that all the flow¬ 
ers had faces.” . 96 

“Sitting on a stump was a man dressed in 

skins, playing on two pipes.” . 102 

“A pretty girl poked her head right through 

the bark of the tree.” . 106 













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» 















Tommy kins’ Adventures 


PART ONE 

TOMMYKINS GOES TO THE 
MOON 

Tommykins sat on the front porch 
eating his supper of bread and milk and 
Toodlekins, the fussy little terrier, sat 
beside Tommykins, eating his supper 
out of his own little saucer. Tommykins 
and Toodlekins had just moved from the 
city to the country, and they found 
everything so wonderful that they never 
went into the house until Mother called 
them to go to bed. Up in the sky a great, 
round Moon hung so low that you could 
plainly see the Man in it, and he frowned 


13 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


dreadfully, as if he were in a terrible 
temper about something. 

“Perhaps,” said Tommykins to Tood- 
lekins, “he didn’t like his supper.” 

Toodlekins cocked one ear and looked 
wise, but said nothing; and two bull¬ 
frogs sat up on the edge of the pond at 
the foot of the lawn, and croaked 
“Glubaglub, glubagub.” And an old 
Owl, perched on a limb of the elm tree 
beside the porch, gazed down at Tom¬ 
mykins with round, yellow eyes just like 
glass marbles, and said, “Who? Who?” 
over and over again. His feathers were 
ruffled up round his neck, like a collar, 
and he looked terribly wise,—as if he 
could tell a lot of things if he only would. 

Now Tommykins had read “Alice In 
Wonderland,” and he knew that the 
creatures could talk if they wanted to. 
He wanted to say something to the old 
Owl, but he really didn’t know how to 


14 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 



speak to an Owl, whether 
a person should say “Mr. 
Owl” or “Mrs. Owl.” So 
he and Toodlekins sat 
and stared up at the Moon, 
and the Man in the Moon 
stared frowningly back at them, 
till presently Tommykins made 
up his mind. 

“Mr. Owl, why do you keep on saying 
‘Who? Who?’ all the time?” asked Tom¬ 
mykins. 

“Stupid child, I say: ‘Who? 

Who would like to go to the 
Moon tonight?’” returned the 
Owl in a perfectly ordinary 
voice, just like a person. 

“Can you take people 
to the Moon, Mr. Owl?” 
cried Tommykins, very 
much excited. 

“I can on certain 



IS 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


nights, and this is my night.” 

“If you please, then, Mr. Owl, me and 
Toodlekins would love to go to the 
Moon.” 

“You shouldn’t say ‘Me and Toodle¬ 
kins,’” remarked the Owl severely. 

“No, certainly not,” answered Tom- 
mykins, “I mean, Toodlekins and I 
would love to go, if you please.” 

“It’s really astonishing how ignorant 
some people are,” the Owl added, as he 
flopped down from the elm to the porch, 
frightening Toodlekins nearly into fits, 
for Toodlekins was a terrible coward 
and always got behind Mother’s skirts 
when he wanted to bark at anything. 

“I’m not ignorant,” Tommykins 
stated sulkily. “Toodlekins always 
comes behind me anyhow. I’m at the 
head of my class in school.” 

“Are you indeed? That’s very inter- 


16 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


esting. What do you study? Can you do 
addition?” 

“Of course,” said Tommykins with 
dignity. 

“All right, go ahead. Do some now, 
will you? I’m just crazy about addi¬ 
tion.” 

Tommykins couldn’t imagine any¬ 
body’s being crazy about addition, but of 
course he was too polite to say so, and 
instead immediately began to do a sum. 

“One and one make two,” he said. 

“Ah,” said the Owl, “but what kind 
of a one?” 

“Why, any kind, of course,” said Tom¬ 
mykins, surprised. 

“Not at all!” shouted the Owl. “For 
instance, one and one of you might make 
two very little Owls, but one and one 
of me would make any number of little 
boys like you. Don’t you see?” 

“No, I don’t see,” Tommykins answer- 


17 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


ed angrily, for he thought the old Owl 
was very rude. 

“Oh, well, that’s because you’re so 
stupid.” 

“I don’t think you are at all polite,” 
said Tommykins, who didn’t like being 
called stupid by any ridiculous old Owl. 

“Well, well don’t let’s quarrel,” the 
Owl said more kindly, “for I have 
an idea that you may be useful to me. 
For instance, I want someone to take a 
note to the Tree-toad for me. I have im¬ 
portant business with him, but I don’t 
care to talk to him,—he has been so im¬ 
pertinent to me. If you will take him 
the note I’ll take you to the Moon, and 
we will call it square. What do you 
say?” 

“I’ll take it with pleasure,” Tommy¬ 
kins promised in his Father’s best man¬ 
ner, “but you will have to tell me which 
Tree-toad, you know. There are so 


18 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


many that I might not get the right 
one.” 

“Really! You are the most amusingly 
stupid person—but there—as I said, 
don’t quarrel. Let’s have some more 
games in arithmetic.” 

“What shall we play?” asked Tommy- 
kins, who had never thought of arithme¬ 
tic as a game. 

“How about subtraction? Can you do 
that?” 

“Certainly.” Tommykins sat up a lit¬ 
tle straighter on the step and cleared his 
throat. He hoped the Owl was not very 
far advanced in subtraction, for he him¬ 
self had just gone into it. 

“You be the lower figures,” directed 
the Owl,” and I’ll be the upper. But 
you begin. I’m eight on top, and you’re 
four underneath.” 

“All right,” agreed Tommykins. 


19 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

“Take four from eight, and leave 
four.” 

“All wrong again,” laughed the Owl, 
gaily. 

“How wrong?” Tommykins asked. 

“Why, one would have thought you’d 
know that I would never let you take 
four from my eight.” 

“But that’s nonsense,” cried Tommy¬ 
kins angrily. 

“Not at all! I know everything in the 
world, and I keep everything that I get. 
And that’s Owl.” 

Tommykins opened his mouth to say 
something rude, but suddenly remem¬ 
bered that the Owl had promised to take 
him to the Moon, so he answered pleas¬ 
antly, “When do you think you could 
take me to the Moon?” 

“Why,” the Owl observed thought¬ 
fully, “I could take you now, but I don’t 
know about the dog. You see, the last 


20 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

dog that went up there, barked at the 
Lady in the Moon—the Man’s wife, you 
know—and scared her so that she fell 
out of the Moon onto a comet which was 
passing that way. She couldn’t get 
home again till the comet had been all 
around the sky and back again, and that 
was a hundred years.” 

“Mercy.” Tommykins was horrified. 
“Then I certainly don’t think we had 
better take Toodlekins, because he might 
get a bit excited too, and bark a little 
jyou know.” 

“Yes, and ever since that time dogs 
have always barked at the Moon. Any¬ 
how, this dog doesn’t look as if he had 
much sense. City dogs never have.” 

At this rude speech Toodlekins got be¬ 
hind Tommykins and nearly barked his 
head off at the Owl, which of course, 
settled his trip to the Moon. 

“But how shall I get up to the Moon?” 


21 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Tommykins inquired. “I’m afraid I’m 
too big to ride on your back.’’ 

“That’s easily done,” the Owl said. 
“Just eat a piece of that clover at 
your feet and you will soon be as small 
as you like. But be careful not to eat 
too much. You remember Alice—when 
she fanned herself almost out with the 
white rabbit’s fan?” 

“Yes, indeed;” and Tommykins hasti¬ 
ly threw away the clover leaf, out of 
which he had already taken quite a large 
bite. 

At once he began shrinking rapidly. 
He was now able to sit very comfortably 
on the Owl’s back and presently felt 
himself sailing through the air, as high 
as the treetops. Poor Toodlekins was left 
farther and farther behind, until Tom¬ 
mykins could no longer either see him 
or even hear his poor, lonesome little 
bark. 


22 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Oh, excuse me a moment,” begged 
the Owl, all of a sudden, “while I see if 
everything is all right at home before 
I go.” 

They were at the top of the elm tree 
now, and Tommykins could look right 
down into the Owl’s nest. There sat old 
Mrs. Owl rocking the younsrest baby on 
a leafy bough. 

“My dear,” Mr. Owl spoke very tim¬ 
idly now, “I am just going to take this 
little boy to see the Man in the Moon for 
a while. I’ll soon be back home.” 

“Yes,” Mrs. Owl answered crossly, 
“that’s the way you do all the time—fly 
around and have a good time while I 
stay home and take care of the nest. 
I’ve a great mind to throw all the chil¬ 
dren out, fly off myself and get a new 
mate.” 

“Oh, no, you wouldn’t do that?” Tom¬ 
mykins was horrified. 


23 



“‘YES,’ MRS. OWL ANSWERED CROSSLY, ‘FLY 
AROUND WHILE I TAKE CARE OF THE NEST.’” 


24 










































































TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“What business is it of yours?” Mrs. 
Owl cried. “Who are you, anyhow? 
You’re a sight, whatever you are.” 

“My goodness,” thought Tommvkins, 
“Mrs. Owl has a worse temper than 
even Mr. Owl.” He did not say this out 
loud, for he was so small now that she 
could have thrown him off her hus¬ 
band’s back had she taken a fancy to 
do it. 

“Oh, my dear,” the Owl reproached 
her, and Tommvkins was surprised to 
find that he could be so meek, “you know 
you are so fond of the green cheese of 
which the Moon is made; and I will 
bring you home a large piece,—if you 
will let me go.” 

“Very well; but see that you are home 
in time to get something for the chil¬ 
dren’s breakfast before it gets too light 
for you to see. All I say is—you better 
had be, sir.” 


25 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Well, it certainly is ;an awful thing to 
live in the same tree with a family of 
Owls. They quarrel all night and snore 
all day. Who can sleep?” came a sharp 
little voice, and a Jaybird poked its head 
out of the leaves below. 

“You’d better shut up,” Mrs. Owl re¬ 
torted, “or I’ll throw the baby down on 
you and squash you.” 

“Mercy,” thought Tommykins, “who 
would have supposed the little birds 
would quarrel this way?” 

“Well, I would rather live in the tree 
with a dozen Owls than one Jaybird,’ 
said a sweet, complaining voice, and a 
little Blackbird poked her head out too. 
“You are all the time stealing my eggs, 
if I leave the nest for a minute.” 

“If you were not so silly you’d know 
that the Owls steal a great many more 
eggs than I, only they are so tricky and 


26 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

deep that you can’t catch them,” Jaybird 
answered promptly. 


Instead of being angry at this ritde 
speech, the Owls seemed actually flat- 


27 




TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

lered. Tommykins distinctly heard 
Mrs. Owl titter, but he and Mr. Owl 
flew away now, and he soon forgot all 
about the family quarrel. 

They went up and up until they came 
to a beautiful white cloud, and there the 
Owl said to Tommykins, “Step down. 
We’ll walk from here. Tommykins did 
so, and they stood on the cloud. 

“We’ll just stroll over toward the 
Moon,” the Owl went on, “and be sure 
you are very polite to any one we meet, 
for people up here are very ceremon¬ 
ious.” 

“All right,” replied Tommykins, and 
he wondered very much what sort of 
people he would meet. 

The first thing they saw was a lovely 
creature, who looked exactly like the 
pictures of Angels you see in story 
books, and she carried a flaming torch 
with a bright star in it. 


28 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“What do you want here, and whither 
are you going?’’ the Angel asked, and 
she stood still and barred their way 
while her fleecy robe blew round her in 
the wind. Tommykins thought the 
torch would surely go out, but it only 
burned the brighter, the more the wind 
blew. 

“Where are you going?” inquired the 
Angel again, and her voice sounded like 
church chimes on a Sunday morning. 

“To the Moon, your Honor,” answer¬ 
ed the Owl, “if you will allow us.” 

“Go,” said the Angel, in her sweet 
voice, “but be careful not to go near the 
Great Bear. He is very ugly tonight,” 
And she stood aside to let them pass. 

“Who was that?” asked Tommykins. 

“That was the Evening Star. She 
keeps guard up here, and if she had said 
we couldn’t pass we should have had to 
go home without seeing the Man in the 


29 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Moon; and that would have been awk¬ 
ward for me, for Mrs. Owl would be so 
angry if I did not bring home the cheese 
I promised her. Take care and keep well 







to this side. Over yonder is the Great 
Bear, and it would be a fearful thing to 
meet him in one of his tempers.” 
Tommykins heard a terrible growling 


30 




TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


and roaring like a menagerie. He looked 
to the right and there was the Great 
Bear, who was made entirely of stars 
and glittered so that one could not look 
at him without blinking. The Bear was 
walking up and down like the animals 
at the Zoo, and Tommykins said to the 
Owl: 

“Oh my, suppose he comes over here 
after us, what can we do?” 

“He won’t do that,” the Owl reassured 
him. “You see, he can’t get out of his 
Orbit. He is mad tonight because they 
won’t let him drink all the milk in the 
.Milky Way, but they’ll soon settle him 
if he doesn’t make up his mind to be¬ 
have!” 

“What will they do to him?” the little 
boy asked. 

“Oh, they’ll just put the Dipper over 
him, and that will keep him quiet, you 
bet.” 


31 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

They walked on for a while, and pres¬ 
ently they heard the loveliest singing, as 
they came upon a little bird sitting on 
the edge of a moonbeam and singing all 
to himself. 

“Why, that’s the Lark,” cried the Owl, 
and he called out, “What in the world 
are you doing up here at this time of 
night? I thought you always flew up 
early in the morning.” 

“Yes,” the Lark said, “I am engaged 
to sing up here every day at sun¬ 
rise, but I flew up this morning and the 
clouds were so heavy that I couldn’t 
get right back. So I thought I would 
just stay where I was till tomorrow. It’s 
very pleasant up here. I’d never come 
down to Earth at all if I didn’t have to 
eat.” 

“I should think your family would be 
worried about you,” said Tommykins, 
who knew how worried his Mother al- 


32 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 



ways was 
about him 
when he was 
not home on 
time. 

“Oh, I haven’t any 
family,” replied the 
Lark with a trill. “I 
couldn’t tie myself down with 
wife and children. I fly arouna 
too much.” 

“Well, we’ll rest here a bit if 
you will sing us a song,” the Owl 
remarked. 


“Certainly,” the Lark answered oblig¬ 
ingly, “I’ll sing you a ?ong of my 
own composition.” And he began in his 
lovely voice: 


“The Man in the Moon, and the great 
big Bear, 

Had a fight one night, they say. 


33 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


The Man in the Moon, with a big rain¬ 
bow, 

Shot the great Bear clear away.” 

“I think that is beautiful,” cried Tom- 
mykins, “but I didn’t know you could 
shoot with a rainbow.” 

“Oh, you find out a lot of things you 
never knew before when you come up 
here,” the gay little Lark observed. 
“Here’s another song I composed: 


The Little Star 

“A little Star said to himself, 

Sing hey, sing ho. 

It’s not much show I have up here, 
Too many stars and much too near. 
I think I’ll just drop down below 
And there I’ll be the only show, 
Sing hey, sing ho. 


34 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“ ‘Now,’ said the Sun, ‘you little fool, 
Sing hey, sing ho, 

Just think before you get too gay, 

For if you drop I fear you may 
Find out that you’re no show at all,— 
And pride oft goes before a fall.’ 
Alack, Sing ho.” 

“But this conceited little Star, 

Sing hey, sing ho. 

That very night, to Earth he dropped, 
And when upon the earth he popped— 
He turned into a bit of lead, 

That little Star was quite, quite dead. 
Alack, Sing ho.” 

“That’s my latest. How do you like 
it?” 

“It’s very beautiful,” Tommykins 
answered, winking his eyes, “but it 
makes me cry. It’s so dreadfully sad. 
The poor little Star.” 


35 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Nonsense!” cried the Owl. “Why 
couldn’t he be satisfied in his own home, 
where he had everything he needed. He 
should have behaved himself and stayed 
where he was put.” 

“Ah, dear Owl,” the little Lark said, 
“every one cannot look at life in your 
sensible, commonplace manner.” 

“No,” the Owl spoke up pompously, 
“of course I can’t expect everybody to 
be as wise as I am.” 

At this speech the Lark threw up his 
head, and rocking himself on the moon¬ 
beam, trilled and trilled till some little 
stars over in a corner of the sky began to 
dance. 

Tommykins could have listened to the 
Lark all night, but the Owl had to hurry 
on because he had to be home in time 
for the children’s breakfast. 

The Lark stopped warbling. “You 
had better go home by way of the North 


36 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Star. He is entertaining the Aurora 
Boreales tonight, and it will be beautiful 
there. The little boy will like it.” 

“Thank you for telling us,” the Owl 
answered. “We will certainly go home 
that way.” 

Tommykins and the Owl walked on 
and on, and they heard the little Lark 
singing to himself, until they left him 
far behind. 

Presently they came to the end of 
the cloud they were walking on and the 
Owl said to Tommykins, “Get on my 
back again and we’ll fly for a while. I 
feel hungry thinking of that cheese.” 

The Owl spread his wings and they 
flew on and on,—till they came to the 
Moon himself, sailing along like a huge 
boat in the sky. The Man in the Moon 
was sitting in the stern and his wife was 
on the side, dabbling her hand in the 
Milky Way. Mr. Moon was a queer, small 


37 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


fellow, though he looked lots more good- 
natured when you get close to him. He 
certainly was not frowning now, but 
indeed seemed very jolly. His wife was 
like a pretty little fairy, and she looked 
as if she were made altogether of moon¬ 
beams. She was so light and feathery 
Tommykins did not wonder that she 
fell out of the Moon when the bad dog 
barked at her; and he was mighty glad 
that they had not brought Toodlekins 
along with them, for there was not even 
a comet in sight, and he wondered where 
she would fall when there was nothing 
at all to catch her. Now that they were 
close Tommykins could see that one 
side of the Moon was made entirely of 
green cheese. That side did not shine at 
all. 

“Oh, ho!” cried the Man in the Moon to 
the Owl, “I suppose you have come up 
here for another piece of cheese for that 


38 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


wife of yours—the one who fusses so? 
But who is that with you? I certainly 
hope it is not a dog.” 

“No, no,” said the Owl, “it is nobody 
but a little boy.” 

“Do little boys bark?” the Lady in the 
.Moon asked fearfully. 

“Indeed not, my Lady,” replied the 
Owl politely. “He couldn’t bark if he 
wanted. He doesn’t know how.” 

The wife of the Man in the Moon gig¬ 
gled, and told Tommykins how dread¬ 
fully afraid she 1 was of dogs. 

“Did you ever ride on a comet?” she 
inquired of him. 

Tommykins had to admit that he had 
never even been near one. 

“I rode on one for a hundred years, 
that time the dog barked,” said she. “It 
was terribly hot, and we were always 
expecting to bump into the Earth. The 
diet was poor, too. We didn’t have any- 


39 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


thing to eat but shooting stars. We 
caught them as they shot.” 

“How did you cook them?” asked 
Tommykins, who was always interested 
in things to eat. 

“Oh, we just put them on the side of 
the comet, and it was so hot that they 
browned beautifully.” 

“I suppose they tasted like starfish?” 
Tommykins remarked. 

“Well, something like starfish and 
something like plum cake,” giggled the 
Lady in the Moon, who did not seem to 
have much sense Tommykins thought. 

“Will you get in and take a sail?” 
asked the Man in the Moon. Tommy¬ 
kins and the Owl got in the Moon, and 
off they went through the Milky Way. 

“But where shall we go?” the Man in 
the Moon demanded of his guests. 
“Would you like to see the Pleiades 
dance?” 


40 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

They said they certainly would, and 
the Man steered them straight toward 
the little stars that had danced when the 
Lark trilled so long. When Tommykins 
came near he saw that they were all like 
lovely little fairies. They joined hands 
as they whirled in a beautiful dance, and 
sang especially for Tommykins: 

“We are willing little stars, 

Shining up here while you sleep. 

We are not so large as Mars, 

So together we must keep. 

“When the lovely Evening Star 
Bids us come out one by one 

Then we shine on you afar 
When your playtime hours are 
done. 

“When the rain has washed our faces 
And the clouds have blown away, 


41 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Then we scamper to our places 
And begin to dance and play. 

“When the Sun has gone to bed 
And the Earth puts out his light,— 
Do you know by some ’tis said, 
Underneath he’s shining bright?” 

Tommykins thanked the little stars 
very much and would have liked to hear 
another song, but the Owl had to hurry 
on account of the children, and then 
Mrs. Owl had such a terrible temper 
that they both felt it would not do to 
risk making her any angrier. So they 
bade the Moon Gentleman good night 
and flew away, but not till they had been 
given a large piece of Moon cheese. The 
Lady in the Moon told Tommykins 
she liked him so much better than dogs 
and asked him to come again with the 
Owl. 


42 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Of course,” the Owl said, as they flew 
along, “there is nothing at all in that 
nonsense the little stars sang,—about 
the Sun shining at night. He couldn’t 
go on doing that, you know; he has to 
have some rest or he’d very soon be sick. 
He goes to bed and sleeps all night and 
everything is as dark as can be every¬ 
where. I know all about it, for my 
‘Grandfather told me, and he is the wis¬ 
est Owl in the world, as you ought to 
know. 

They came to another thick white 
cloud just then, and here the Owl sug¬ 
gested, “Let’s walk awhile. It’s very 
chilly near the North Star’s domain, and 
you might get cold if we flew.” 

So they walked on the cloud till they 
came to a crystal gate, hung all over 
with icicles and set in. the midst of dark 
blue clouds filled with snow, which 
sifted down on them. Tommykins 


43 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


thought what a splendid place it would 
be to play at throwing snowballs. But— 
b-r-rr, goodness! it was cold. It was so 
cold that the ice cracked on the crystal 
gate, like little guns going off. 

“This is the gate to the North Star’s 
domain,” stated the Owl. “I hope you 
are not very cold?” 

“Not at all,” answered Tommykins, 
for he was afraid if he said “Yes” the 
Owl might turn back. But how shall we 
get in?” 

“We’ll just rap, and someone will open 
this gate. The North Star keeps a lot of 
servants,” and the Owl knocked with his 
beak. 

Sure enough, the gate flew open at 
once, and a little creature just like a 
snowflake stood before them. She 
waved a wand and said in poetry—for 
that is the way they always talk at the 
North Star: 


44 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Who are you that stand and wait, 

At the North Star’s icy gate?” 

The Owl promptly answered. “Graci¬ 
ous keeper of the gate, we have been on 
a visit to the Moon, and would like to 
pass through the domain of the North 
Star on our way back to Earth.” 

Then the little snowflake said to some¬ 
one inside the gate: 

“Star of the North, oh lovely Star, 
Two strangers from the Earth afar 
Desire to pass through your domain, 
While going to the Earth again.” 

Some lovely music floated out to them 
as a voice sang, 

“Bid the North Wind turn away, 

That his breath may not dismay 
Strangers who will pass this way.” 


45 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


The little snowflake threw the gate 
wide open then and cried sweetly, 

“Strangers, do not longer wait, 

Welcome lies within the gate!” 

As they went in the Owl turned to 
Tommykins, “Do you know any poetry? 
It would be nice to speak in poetry to 
the North Star. I never say any myself; 
it doesn’t run in our family. We are too 
dignified to do anything so foolish, but 
up here they don’t know any better.” 

Tommykins tried his best to remem¬ 
ber something, but all he could think of 
was, “I want to be an angel,” and some¬ 
how he didn’t feel that that was just 
suitable. So he shook his head, and they 
went into the North Star’s palace. 

Tommykins had never in his life seen 
anything half so lovely, for the beauti¬ 
ful Aurora Boreales were there. They 


46 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


were darling fairies, and they wore 
clothes 1 made out of clouds of every 
color. They danced under a rainbow 
which stretched over the roof of the pal¬ 
ace, and as they danced they sang: 

‘Hail to the North Star’s steady glow 

As it shines on the frozen Earth below. 

Where the ice creaks under the Rein¬ 
deer’s feet 

And the Polar Bear shakes from his 
fur, the sleet. 

“Hail to the light of the great North 
Star 

Which the Eskimo watches from afar, 

As he guides his sled through the icy 
night 

With only the great North Star for 
light.’’ 

The North Star sat on a throne made 


47 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


of ice, and instead of holding a torch 
as the Evening Star did, he had a 
crown of icicles, with a great white star 
in the middle which shone brilliant¬ 
ly over everything. Tommykins felt 
rather afraid of him, he looked so mag¬ 
nificent, but he smiled very kindly upon 
them and said 

“Strangers from the Earth afar, 
Welcome from the Northern Star! 

Over all the Earth I shine, 

All the Earth is friend of mine.” 

“Your Majesty,” the Owl bowed low, 
“we thank you for your kindness, and 
we wish we also could speak in poetry, 
jnstead of in prose, and now that we 
have seen your lovely domain—may we 
go through the other gate and home by 
that way?” 

The North Star said they should go by 


48 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


the back wa y but that first they must 
have some refreshments, and then two 
funny little stars, with the cutest faces, 
came running- up to them with beautiful 
trays made of red sunset clouds. The 
little stars’ arms were on each side of 
their faces, which were in the middle, 
and their legs were nothing but star 
rays. They had snow ice cream on their 
trays and Tommykins thought it was 
delicious, but the Owl whispered to him 
that he much preferred birds’ eggs, or 
worms. 

After that the little snow flakes took 
them both to the back gate, which Tom¬ 
mykins was surprised to find was every 
bit as beautiful as the front one, and 
from there they began to fly home. 

Tommykins wanted ever so much to 
catch a glimpse of the sky on the other 
side of the North Star’s domain, but the 
Owl was in such a hurry now, and went 


49 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


so fast, that it was like the time Tommy- 
kins went on the lightning express to 
New York City with his Father. The 
things flew by so fast that you couldn’t 
see much of anything at all. Once they 
bumped into a tiny scrap of a star on the 
edge of the Milky Way, and Tommykins 
heard it shout out, “Mercy! what man¬ 
ners these creatures from the Earth 
have.” Tommykins called to it to please 
excuse them, but they were going at 
such a rate that he hardly thought the 
star heard. 

As they drew near the Earth, and once 
more' Tommykins could see the top of 
the elm tree, a figure all in smoky gar¬ 
ments flew past them rapidly. As it 
passed it laughed a silvery laugh, and 
shaking out its grey cloak sprinkled 
them over with dewdrops. 

“Good gracious!” the Owl hooted, 
“that was the Dawn, flying over to 


50 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


wake up the Sun. I must hurry; it will 
soon be light! Meet me on the door¬ 
step at supper time tonight, and I will 
give you the note to the Tree-toad 
which you remember you promised to 
deliver for me.” 

“Certainly,” Tommykins said, “but 
how shall I get back to my natural size? 
It would scare Mother terribly for me 
to come in like this, you know, and 
Father says I must be very careful of 
Mother. Shall I eat another piece of 
clover?” 

“Stupid!” cried the Owl, “stupid, 
stupid!” 

And now the most remarkable thing 
of all happened. The Owl began to 
bark exactly like a dog, and to nip at 
Tommykins with his bill. 

“Don’t do that!” and Tommykins 
gave the Owl such a push that he fell off 
Mr. Owl’s back, down—down—and 


51 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


suddenly found himself in bed, the 
morning Sun shining in his face and 



Toodlekins on top of him, barking away 
and licking Tommykins’ face at a great 
rate. 


52 





























































TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Why,” Tommykins sat up in bed, 
“that’s very funny. You don’t really 
think it was a dream, do you, Toodle- 
kins?” 

Toodlekins cocked one ear, and tried 
hard to look wise, as he had an irritat¬ 
ing habit of doing when he hadn’t the 
least idea what Tommykins was talking 
about. 

“Well,” the little boy added, “What a 
pity Toodlekins you have to bark so 
much!” 


53 



PART TWO 


TOMMYKINS VISITS THE 
TREE-TOAD 

Whether it was a dream or not, 
the next night Tommykins was there 
on the doorstep waiting for the Owl. 
Sure enough, probably just as soon as 
the Owl had finished his supper, he ap¬ 
peared in the elm tree and then flopped 
down on the porch, frightening Toodle- 
kins again. 

“Are you ready?” the Owl wanted to 
know. 

“Yes, indeed,” Tommykins spoke up, 
for he was 1 not afraid of this old Owl 
any more. 

“Here,” and the Owl handed Tommy¬ 
kins an elm leaf which looked as if it 
had been stuck full of pin-holes. 


55 


TOMMYICINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Dear me,” thought Tommy kins, 
“if I had shown him a note like this he 
would say I was very ignorant,” but he 
took care not to say this to the Owl, for 
he had promised to take the note and he 
wanted very much to go to see a Tree- 
toad. So he took another bite of clover, 
as he had done when he went to the 
Moon, and immediately became tiny 
as before. 

“Come along, then,” the Owl direct¬ 
ed. “I will show you where this Tree- 
toad fellow lives.” 

They walked nearly to the edge of 
the pond, and the Owl stopped before 
a hollow tree which Tommvkins had 
heard his Father say he was going to 
cut down. His Mother had said she did 
not want it cut down and Tommykins 
was glad, for it would surely be dread¬ 
ful to cut a person’s house down over 
his very head, now wouldn’t it? 


56 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I’ll leave you here,” said the Owl, 
“and when I am back at the elm tree you 
rap and go in. But not before.” 

“Must I be as polite with them as we 
were with the sky people?” asked Tom- 
mykins. 

“No, indeed, they are very inferior 
common little toads.” And the Owl ruf¬ 
fled his feathers so that Tommykins 
could see the bird felt himself very much 
above the Tree-toad. 

Tommykins obediently waited till Mr. 
Owl had gone back to the elm tree, and 
then rapped on the hollow tree. No one 
answered and he rapped again. There 
came a scuffling noise within and a 
squeaky little voice: “For mercy’s sake, 
can’t you wait a minute? I’m coming 
as fast as I can. This tree is getting 
damper and damper, and I have the 
rheumatism terribly in my toes since I 
hired myself to the Tree-toad,” 


57 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


At th;s moment a light appeared in¬ 
side the tree, moving toward Tommy- 
kins, and presently a ridiculous little 
Cricket footman came in sight carrying 


Ss% 



a piece of dead wood, which shone in the 
dark just like a candle. The Cricket 
seemed in a very bad humor and walked 
with a decided limp. 


58 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I suppose you have come to the 
party,” he said, “though you don’t look 
like the rest of the company. You look 
like the people who live in houses, only 
you are much too small to be one of 
them. Ah me, I lived in a house once, in 
the chimney-corner where it was nice 
and comfortable. I never had the rheu¬ 
matism then; I was a singer. I sang on 
the hearth at night and was immensely 
popular. There was a great man who 
wrote a story about me in those days, 
and now here I am,—dressed in the 
Tree-toad’s livery and waiting on a lot 
of mushroom aristocracy.” 

“Why did you leave and come here, if 
you don’t like it?” asked Tommykins. 

“Well, you see,” answered the Cricket, 
“I went out of fashion when the phono¬ 
graph came into use. The people had all 
the noise they could stand, and they 
didn’t care for me any more. Also the 


59 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

family I lived with moved into an apart¬ 
ment and there was no hearth for me to 
sit on. I never could sing with any ex¬ 
pression sitting on a radiator or a gas 
stove. I did try to get into a house in 
this very yard when some people moved 
in this summer, but the colored girl 
swept me out the first morning. She 
said I was a horrid black bug.” 

Tommykins made up his mind to ask 
the maid not to sweep out any more 
crickets, please. 

“If you like,” went on the Cricket, a 
little more cheerfully, “I’ll sing some¬ 
thing now. You remind me of old 
times.” 

Tommykins said he’d be very glad, 
indeed, to hear the cricket sing; so the 
little footman began: 


60 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


The Cricket’s Song 

“Tinga linga ringa linga ting ting ting— 

This is the song I sing. 

A Grasshopper wished for a Firefly’s 
wing— 

Tinga ringa ting ting ting. 

“But the Firefly lighted his lantern 
bright 

And flew away into the night; 

The Grasshopper quarreled till he was a 
sight, 

And the old Moon laughed at his 
plight. 

“Tinga linga ringa linga ting ting ting— 

This is the song I sing. 

Cricket on the hearth will good luck 
bring, 

Tinga linga ting ting ting.” 

“I love that,” Tommykins told the lit¬ 
tle singer. 


61 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Well,” the Cricket admitted mod¬ 
estly, “they always used to like that— 
but I’m nothing here. They even eat 
insects, you know, but I’m such a fine 
servant they couldn’t get along without 
me. But come, I’ll take you to the dining 
room.” 

He led the way up a long passage in 
the hollow tree, till presently they 
came to a room, and there Tommykins 
found quite a gathering of Toads and 
Frogs, also some Lizards and one small 
Field-mouse. They were all sitting 
round a table just like so many people, 
and you know it didn’t seem at all 
strange to Tommykins to see them 
doing this. 

A large Tree-toad sat at the head of 
the table and Tommykins thought he 
must be the master of the house. So 
Tommykins bowed to him and began to 
tell him about the note, but at this all the 


62 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

company screamed <*ut in the rudest 
manner you can imagine. 

“Oh, what in the world is that? How 
funny it looks!” 

“Don’t mind them,” said the Toad, 
“they really don’t mean any harm. How 
do you do? Come up here and sit beside 
me.” 

“Thank you, and how are you?” an¬ 
swered Tommykins. “But I didn’t come 
to the party. I only came to deliver 


“Oh, yes, of course,” interrupted the 
Tree-toad, “I quite understand.” 

“Oh, yes, of course, he quite under¬ 
stands,” cried all the company in a kind 
of chorus. 

“But I don’t think you do,” Tommy¬ 
kins said. “You see, I only came to 
de-” 

“Please don’t say any more,” the Tree- 
toad implored him. “Sit down here. This 


63 




TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


is my wife,” and he pointed to a smaller 
toad sitting beside him. 

There seemed to be nothing for Tom- 
mykins to do but sit down and stay for 
the party, so he took the seat the Tree- 
toad showed him and the Tree-toad’s 
wife handed him a dish of raw Grass¬ 
hoppers, with vinegar and pepper on 
them. 

Now Tommykins couldn’t eat raw 
grasshoppers or cooked ones either, for 
that matter, so he said he wasn’t very 
hungry. 

“My dear, the little creature doesn’t 
care for the Grasshoppers; perhaps he 
will take some of the stewed Caterpil¬ 
lars,” said the Tree-toad. 

“I never cared for raw things my¬ 
self,” replied the Tree-toad’s wife, as she 
passed the stewed Caterpillars, which to 
Tommykins seemed even worse than the 


64 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Grasshoppers if that were possible. So 
he said he was not hungry at all. 

A very severe old lady Lizard, who sat 
beside the Tree-toad’s wife, said loudly, 
“He says he’s not hungry, but it’s my 
belief that he doesn’t like your cooking.” 

“Oh, he doesn’t like my cooking,” cried 
the Tree-toad’s wife, and she burst into 
a flood of tears, while the company 
shouted in chorus: “Oh, he doesn’t like 
her cooking.” 

They all looked reproachfully at 
Tommykins, who felt dreadfully, and 
decided that he would eat a stewed cater¬ 
pillar if it killed him. But just then a 
bright thought struck him and he called 
out loudly, for the Tree-toad’s wife was 
sobbing so you could hardly hear your¬ 
self speak. 

“I do like your cooking, I think it is 
delicious, but I have the stomach ache.” 

“There, now, my dear,” said the 


65 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Tree-toad, “of course if he has the stom¬ 
ach ache-” 

“I don’t believe he has the stomach 
ache at all,” cried the old lady Lizard, and 
she took the dish of stewed Caterpillars 
and threw it directly at Mr. Tree-toad’s 
head. 

At once there was the greatest 
confusion. The guests began running 
around in all directions. 

“Don’t mind them,” a cute little Liz¬ 
ard said to Tommykins, “there is going 
to be a dance after the dinner. I hope 
you dance,—don’t you?” 

“Not very well,” Tommykins confes¬ 
sed; he was just learning, you see. 
“What do you dance here?” 

“We dance every one of the latest 
dances. There’s the ‘Don’t You Do It’ 
waltz and ‘Katy Did and Didn’t Gallop,’ 
for instance.” 

“But I’m afraid I don’t dance any of 


66 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


those,” Tommykins answered rather 
doubtfully. 

“Well, there’s the Frog Trot, too,” the 
little Lizard continued. “You stand on 
your head and whirl. It’s easy.” 

“I don’t know about the whirling,” an¬ 
swered Tommykins, “though I can 
stand on my head all right.” 

But here the Tree-toad called, “Let’s 
sing.” So they all sat down to the table 
again. 

“I’ll sing first,” the Tree-toad’s wife 
announced very decidedly, and she sang: 

j 

The Singing Pig 

“I met a Piggywiggy with a funny little 
ring 

Right in the middle of his nose. 

I played on a banjo and he began to sing, 
Oh, Lolly Poppydoodle and a rose. 
Oh, Lolly Poppydoodle and a sweet, 
sweet rose, 

Oh, Lolly Poppydoodle and a rose. 


67 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I s’pose, little Piggywig, of course 
you can dance? 

I said, and I played a gay tune. 

The Piggywig, he straightway began 
to prance 

Till he jumped clear up to the Moon. 

Oh, Lolly Poppydoodle and a sweet, 
sweet rose, 

Oh, Lolly Poppydoodle and a rose.” 

“I love that song,” the little Lizard 
cried. “It makes my feet wiggle.” 
“Mine, too,” answered Tommykins. 
“Now you sing, my dear Mr. Tree- 
toad,” said the singer after everybody 
had finished applauding her. 

“Company first,” he said politely, wav¬ 
ing his hand at Tommykins, who felt 
dreadfully embarrassed but didn’t like 
to refuse. So he sang a song his old 
colored nurse had taught him: 


68 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


The Turkey-buzzard 

“OT .Mr. Turkey-buzzard, how you do? 

Sailin’ in de deep blue sky. 

01’ Mr. Rooster am a-peepin’ at you, 
Winkin’ wid his beady black eye. 

“01’ Mr. Turkey Gobbler spread out he 
tail 

An’ gobble till he red as a beet. 

Say he can’t see why a Buzzard want to 
sail, 

He’d a heap rudder walk on he feet. 

“01’ Miss Duck turn her haid sideways 
An’ holler out, “Quack, quack, quack!” 
Now chillun, don’ immertate de Turkey- 
buzzard’s ways 

Some day he’ll fall on he back.” 

“That’s lovely” the little Lizard re¬ 
marked at once and everybody clapped 
except the old lady Lizard, who said she 


69 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

hated Turkey-buzzards and she didn’t 
see why anybody wanted to sing about 
them at all. 



“Now I’ll sing for you,” offered the 
Tree-toad. He puffed himself up like a 
real Frog and cleared his throat loudly, 
as the best singers nearly always do. 


70 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

Two Frogs 

“There were two frogs lived in a well, 
Umhum! Umhum 

This well it was a perfect—” 

1 

“Stop that song at once,” screamed the 
old lady Lizard, “I don’t like it. It’s not 
respectable!” 

“A perfect dell—” and the Tree-toad 
looked sternly at the old lady lizard— 

“Of mossy stones and dead frog’s 
bones . . .” 

“Sounds like a graveyard,” giggled 
Tommykins. 

“Have it your own way,” answered the 
Tree-toad. “It’s your well I’m singing 
about.” 

“Oh, sing something else,” cried all the 
company, “that’s too solemn.” 

“All right,” said the Tree-toad, “any¬ 
thing to please the crowd.” and he sang: 


71 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“A frog he would a-wooing go, 

Oh ho, oh ho! 

A frog he would a-wooing go 
And so, and so, and so—” 

“Well, for mercy’s sake go on,” came 
from the old lady Lizard. “You make 
me nervous. And so what?” 

“I forget the rest,” the Tree-toad ad¬ 
mitted. “Let’s all sing something to¬ 
gether.” 

“How about ‘Nimble Toes’?” suggest¬ 
ed one of the company, so they all gave 
together: 

“Nimble Toes, Nimble Toes, 
Dancing all the way, 

When Master Frog a courting goes 
At the end of a perfect day.” 

“And that’s a silly song,” the same 
horrid old lady Lizard spoke up again. 


72 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Sing something serious and improv¬ 
ing.” 

“Let’s sing ‘The Old Frog Pond’,” 
said the Tree-toad’s wife, so they sang: 

The Old Frog Pond. 

“The Moon shines bright on the old frog 
pond, 

’Tis Summer, the Tadpoles are gay. 
The Bullfrog croaks on the edge of the 
pond. 

And the mocking bird sings his lay 
The night wind sighs in the old per¬ 
simmon tree 

The crickets are merry and gay. 

The young frog ladies are fair to see, 
And the fireflies make it light as day. 
Leap my little tadpole 
Oh, leap so free and gay 
We will sing one song for the old frog 
pond, 

For the old frog pond far—ar—ar 
away.” 


73 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I never can hear that song without 
crying,” and the old lady Lizard wiped 
her eyes on the table-cloth. 

“Why don’t you sing with us?” the 
nice little Lizai d asked Tommykins. 
“Don’t you know that song?” 

“I certainly know the tune, but I don’t 
seem to remember the words.” 

“Oh, join in, anyhow,” the little Liz¬ 
ard told him; but just then the Tree- 
toad started a new song: 


“Frogalena would go with her beaux 
every night, 

To dance in the mud by the moon¬ 
light bright; 

And when she got home her feet were 
a sight 

How her mother would cry at her ter¬ 
rible plight! 


74 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Chorus: 

“Sweet Frogalena, keep your feet 
cleaner, 

I’d love you if you’d only, only try. 

Dear Frogalena, keep your feet cleaner. 

Thus would her mother ever, ever 
cry.” 

As soon as they had finished this 
song the company jumped up and began 
to dance. 

“Come on,” the little Lizard urged 
Tommykins, “I’ll teach you to dance the 
‘Lamentation’ six-step. That’s the easi¬ 
est and latest of all the new dances.” 

She and Tommykins were just tak¬ 
ing the first steps, when a very impor¬ 
tant, great, puffy Bullfrog came up and 
stopped thejn. 

“I am a lawyer,” he turned to Tommy¬ 
kins,” and I think you have come here on 
some secret service business against the 


75 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Tree-toad. I am afraid we shall have to 
arrest you, and hold you until we find 
out all about everything.” 



“Aha!” cried the old lady Lizard, 
“Aha! I knew there was something 
wrong with that creature the minute I 
laid eyes on him.” 


76 




TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I didn’t come to do him any harm,” 
Tommykins told the lawyer, “I only 
came to bring him a note.” 

“There!” the Bullfrog cried with glee, 
“you see you have admitted it. Now if 
I had been your lawyer I should never 
have let you do that,—but you see you 
have admitted it yourself. 

“He admits it himself,” shouted the 
company in chorus. 

They had all stopped dancing and 
stood around Tommykins and the Bull¬ 
frog, gazing solemnly at them. At this 
moment the Tree-toad came up, looking 
dreadfully frightened, and the Bullfrog 
puffed out his chest and said to him, 

“He admits his guilt. You had better 
have him tried at once.” 

“What’s the use of having him tried?” 
demanded the old lady Lizard, “why not 
kill him right away? He might be good 
to eat. He looks like an insect. You 


77 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


know he’s guilty. Kill him right away!” 

“I’d like to see you try it,” Tommykins 
stated, forgetting how little he was now, 
but anyhow not feeling very much 
afraid of these ridiculous creatures. 
“What am I guilty of? That’s what I’d 
like to know.” 

“Yes, what’s he guilty of? That’s 
what we’d like to know?” came from the 
whole party. 

“He’s guilty of carrying papers, that’s 
what,” the old lady Lizard said vici¬ 
ously. 

“Nonsense,” answered Tommykins 
loudly, “why don’t you read the note 
and see for yourself what it’s about?” 
and he held out the note to the Tree- 
toad, who backed away as if Mr. Owl’s 
note were a pistol. 

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly do that, 
you know,” and all the company echoed, 


78 



“THEY ALL STOPPED DANCING AND STOOD 
AROUND TOMMYKINS.” 
















TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

“Oh, no, he couldn’t possibly do that, 
you know.” 

“What would you advise?” the Tree- 
toad looked nervously at the Bullfrog. 

“Better arrest him and take him to the 
Wood Gnome King.” 

The Tree-toad quickly picked up the 
receiver of a telphone which suddenly 
appeared beside him, although Tommy- 
kins was positive it had not been there a 
moment before, and called some num¬ 
bers through it. In a few minutes a Frog 
policeman came running up—such a fun¬ 
ny policeman that Tommykins really 
couldn’t help giving a half-scared little 
laugh. You see, he was beginning to be 
a bit worried at the enmity of all the 
creatures. 

The policeman blew his whistle. Two 
little Gnomes came running and seized 
Tommykins, who was obliged to go 
along with them. Then they left the 


79 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

old hollow tree where the party had 
been given, and went quite a long way 
through the wood, with the Tree-toad 
and all the rest following after. The lit¬ 
tle Lizard cried and told Tommykins 


she hoped they would not kill him, as 
she wanted to dance the “Don’t You Do 
It” waltz with him. After a while they 
reached a large clump of bushes, and one 
of the little Gnomes left Tommykins and 


80 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


ran on ahead to tell the King that they 
were coming. 

Now just at that time they were pass¬ 
ing a large bush, and Tommykins heard 
a voice behind him whisper, “Hist!” 
Turning, he saw a Rabbit, who held out 
a bit of lettuce leaf to him, and said soft¬ 
ly, “If you get in a very bad fix, just eat 
this, and you’ll get large again.” 

The little Gnome who had not gone 
ahead was looking the other way so that 
Tommykins took the leaf and thanked 
the Rabbit in a whisper, just as the 
Gnome said, “Well, here we are.” 

Tommykins found that they had come 
to a sort of ring in the midst of the trees, 
which was carpeted with the softest 
grass, and in the middle of this stood the 
funniest little man you ever saw in your 
life. He looked something, in the face, 
like the old fellow in the second-hand 
bookstore where Tommykins sometimes 


81 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


went with his Father to buy books, but 
his body was fat and his legs were 
crooked and short, so that he seemed to 
be a Dwarf. He knocked on the grass 



with his cane, and gazed solemnly at 
Tommykins while the Bullfrog stated 
his case. Then he cleared his throat and 
looked around at the company. 


82 




“TURNING, HE SAW A RABBIT WHO HELD OUT A 
LETTUCE LEAF TO HIM.” 
















TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Just what sort of creature is this?” 

“That’s what we can’t decide, your 
Majesty,” the Bullfrog told him. 

“He says he is a little boy, but of 
course he’s much too small for that, you 
know.” 

“Why, it’s as plain as the nose on your 
face,” screamed the old lady Lizard, and 
Tommykins thought she was certainly 
rude for the Gnome King’s nose was 
enormous. “It’s as plain as the nose on 
your face that the creature is an insect, 
and I say he might be good to eat.” 

“Ah,” replied the Gnome King, look¬ 
ing at Tommykins over his glasses in the 
most disconcerting manner, “we shall of 
course decide very soon whether it is all 
right to eat him, even if he should prove 
to be good for that purpose.” 

“He’s a criminal” concluded the old 
lady Lizard, who seemed determined 


83 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


that Tommykins should be eaten, and at 
once. 

At this the Gnome King put his hands, 
together, reminding Tommykins of the 
Minister when he came to tea, and said 
in a judicial tone, “To eat, or not to eat? 
That is the question,” which sounded to 
Tommykins like something" his Father 
had read out of a book one night. 

The Gnome King considered the ques¬ 
tion a long time; so long that a few of the 
company went to sleep on the soft grass. 
Then he roused up suddenly to say, 
“Call the cooks!” 

One of the Gnomes ran off and in a 
few minutes came back with three more 
little fellows who—if that were possible 
—were even funnier than the rest. They 
carried plates and napkins, and looked 
very jolly and important. 

“Examine him,” the Gnome King 


84 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


pointed to Tommykins, “and tell us 
whether he is fit to eat or not.” 

The three little cooks came up to Tom¬ 
mykins, pinched him, and felt his legs 



and arms just as the cook at home did 
when she was buying chickens. Then the 
little head cook bowed to the Gnome 
King: “Your Majesty, we don’t think he 
is good to eat. He’s too tough.” 


85 






TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Boil him till he’s tender. That’s what 
I say,” the old lady Lizard yelled out. 

“Have you anything- to say before you 
are cooked and served?” asked the 
Gnome King. 

“Dear me,” thought Tommykins, “I 
had better eat that lettuce right away 
if they are really going to cook me,” but 
he only replied to the Gnome King, 
“Certainly, I have something to say. I 
came here to give the Tree-toad a note 
from the Owl—and he won’t even read 
it!” 

“You told me there was a note,” the 
Gnome King looked severely at the Bull¬ 
frog, “but you didn’t say the Treertoad 
wouldn’t read ijt.” 

“Well, of course I had to do the best 
I could do for my client, your Majesty,” 
the Bullfrog tried to excuse himself. 
“I couldn’t tell anything to injure him.” 


86 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“You told me not to read it!” cried 
the Tree-toad angrily. 

“Silence in the Ring!” shouted the 
Gnome King. Then, to Tommykins, 
“Give me thq note. I will read it.” 

Tommykins handed him the elm tree 
leaf; the King unfolded it and read: 

“If you should bump into a tree. 

What do you think that you would see?” 

“Ha, that is very obscure,” and the 
King repeated slowly and impressively, 

“If-you-should bump-in to-a-tree, 
What-do-you-think-that-you-would- 
see?” 

“Perhaps you would see stars,” Tom¬ 
mykins volunteered. 

“Why?” inquired the Gnome King, 
“there are no stars in a tree, are there?” 

“Except a Christmas tree,” said the lit¬ 
tle Lizard. 


87 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Yes, that’s true,” agreed the Gnome 
King, “of course he might have bumped 
into a Christmas tree.” 

“But he doesn’t say that he saw stars,” 
the Bullfrog pointed out. 

“Also true,” the Gnome King added 
thoughtfully, “the question then is—did 
he, or did he not, see stars?” 

All the company chanted: “Yes, of 
course, that’s the question. Did he, or 
did he not, see stars?” 

“And now,” the Gnome King ad¬ 
dressed the poor Tree-toad, “what have 
you to say for yourself?” 

“I can only say, your Majesty,” replied 
the Tree-toad, who was terribly fright¬ 
ened, “that I don’t know anything 
about it, and I can’t make head nor tail 
out of it.” 

“Well, as far as that goes,” decided the 
Gnome King, “a tree has no head, 
nor tail, any more than it has stars. 


88 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Now if you had said water instead of 
stars,” he remarked to Tommykins, 
“there might have been something in it, 
for every one knows that a tree has 
branches.” 

“Yes, indeed,” piped up the little Liz¬ 
ard,” and there is the Bay tree, too.” 

“You are entirely too fresh,” the 
Gnome King answered sternly. “You 
talk too much. Females should be seen, 
not heard.” 

At once everybody became quiet, and 
the Gnome King thought again for such 
a long time that some of the company 
went to sleep, as before. Presently he 
said, “We had better consult the Oldest 
Tree Spirit. Follow me.” 

They jumped up, one and all. He led 
them farther into the wood, and stop¬ 
ping before an old hollow tree called 
out: 


89 



“A VERY, VERY OLD FACE APPEARED FROM THE 

SIDE OF THE TREE.” 


90 







TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Oh, wise Spirit of the Tree, 

I pray you answer a riddle for me.” 

A hollow- voice inside the tree at once 
answered, “You know my rest time has 
come, that it is almost the hour for me 
to lay down my limbs and give up my 
labors. Five hundred years have I stood 
here, and answered questions. Now I 
am tired. Go ask one of the young Dry¬ 
ads of the forest.” 

“But your learning is so much greater 
than theirs—Will you not please come 
forth?” 

Tommykins heard a great groaning, 
and snapping of branches, and presently 
a very, very old face appeared from the 
side of the tree, and two half-rotten 
limbs on each side became long, skinny 
arms. 

“Speak,” groaned the Oldest Tree 
Spirit, in his hollow, ghostly voice, “and 
then leave me, for I would rest.” 


91 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“I bring you a note,” the Gnome King 
said, “that is so mysterious and deep 
that I myself cannot decide what to do 
with the prisoner, who brought it to a 
client of the Bullfrog.” And he handed 
the note to the Oldest Tree Spirit. 

The Tree Spirit took it and read it 
slowly; then said he, “The riddle of the 
note is hard to solve, and the meaning of 
it is as far away as the stars.” 

“Well!” and the Gnome King faced 
Tommykins, “that proves that you did 
know something about it, all the time.” 

“And it proves his guilt,” snapped the 
old lady Lizard. 

“The fool,” went on the Tree Spirit, 
“writes for all to understand—but the 
wise man speaks in riddles. The Owl 
is a wily old bird. He keeps his actions 
hidden, and no one knows whose eggs 
he steals. Let the Tree-toad beware, 
and sit upon a Toadstool three nights 


92 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


running-, when wisdom will come to him; 
and he must then answer the note.” 

“And how about the prisoner?” the 
Gnome King wished to hear. 

“The prisoner,” said the Tree Spirit, 
“is a Mortal, made small by the wiles of 
the Owl. He comes of a race which is 
a deadly foe to all of you here. He walks 
forth and puts his foot upon the Toad 
who gets in his way, and laughs if he 
kills him, yea, verily.” 

The Tree-toad shivered and looked 
more scared than ever, so that Tommy- 
kins cried out, “I don’t!” for he liked the 
harmless, inoffensive Tree-toad. 

“He keeps Cats,” went on the Tree 
Spirit, not heeding the interruption, 
“which catch Mice, yea, even Field- 
mice-” 

Here the Field-mouse fainted, and had 
to be carried off. 

“He eats the legs of Bullfrogs for 


93 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

breakfast, and enjoys them much-” 

The Bullfrog lawyer gave a leap 
away from Tommyklns. 

“Do with him as you will,” the Tree 
Spirit ended. “I have no love for his race. 
They cut down my Children all around 
me, and I myself might have lived an¬ 
other hundred years if they had not cut 
me open in order to get at some honey, 
which I was storing for a deserving col¬ 
ony of Bees. I care not what you do 
with him. And now leave me in peace, 
for I would rest again.” 

The Spirit disappeared within his hol¬ 
low tree, which at once became only an 
ordinary trunk again. 

“Seize him!” cried the Gnome King, 
“and put him in chains.” 

“Fry him in butter, and serve him 
hot,” the old. lady Lizard added kindly. 

The company all rushed toward Tom- 
mykins, who for a minute was badly 


94 



TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


frightened, but suddenly he thought of 
the Rabbit’s lettuce leaf and said very 
loudly, “Well, I just don’t think you 
will.” He put the lettuce in his mouth, 
hastily swallowed it, and at the same 
moment he became his natural size. 

“Now come on,” cried Tommykins, 
and touch me if you dare!” 

There was not a sound in answer and 
Tommykins, looking around, saw that 
every one of the creatures had disap¬ 
peared. The Toads and Lizards had all 
run into holes, the Field-mouse had gone 
long ago. There was no Bullfrog law¬ 
yer, and even his little friend the Lizard 
had left. 

“Well,” said Tommykins, feeling much 
better, “they certainly were afraid of 
me all right. Anyhow, I delivered the 
note, and I had a real good time, too, 
even if it was a little dangerous,” and 
Tommykins shook his head sagely. “But 


95 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


if it hadn’t been for that Rabbit and his 
kindness I really think I should have 
been cooked and eaten by that disagree¬ 
able old lady Lizard. I’m sorry the cute 
little Lizard couldn’t teach me the ‘La¬ 
mentation’ six step, though, so I could 
have shown it to Mother. She always 
likes to learn all the new steps, but I 
know she wouldn’t care for the one 
where you stood on your head and 
whirled. I think I’ll go home now.” 

But that was easier said than done, 
for Tommykins had lost his way com¬ 
pletely, and the more paths he tried the 
farther he wandered into the wood. So 
finally he sat down on a stone and won¬ 
dered what he should do, although he 
did not feel at all frightened. Just then, 
to his surprise, he' noticed that all the 
Flowers had faces and were laughing at 
him, and whispering to each other. 
Also, he saw running all about, the fun- 


96 



“TO HIS SURPRISE HE NOTICED THAT ALL THE 

FLOWERS HAD FACES.” 
















































TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

niest little Things, something like the 
Gnomes, only these had tails and ears 
that stuck ’way out. There were lots of 
Nightmoths, too, flying around every¬ 
where, and they all had cute little faces 
and were laughing. 

“What makes you all have faces and 
laugh and talk? You don’t do this at 
home, you know,” said Tommykins, 
shaking his finger at a Wild Rose that 
was smiling at him. 

“I should say not,” answered the Rose. 
“You see, this is the enchanted part of 
the wood. People never come here, and 
you only got in because the Tree-toad 
took you to the Gnome King. How 
you’ll get out I’m sure I don’t know. 
The Oldest Tree Spirit lives on the very 
edge of the enchanted part of the wood, 
and if only you had gone backward like 
a Crab, instead of forward like a Boy, 
you would have got out all right. But 


97 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


goodness knows what you’ll do now,” 
the Rose giggled, as if she thought it a 
great joke for a little Boy to get lost in 
the woods. 

“Perhaps you could tell me how to get 
out?” Tommykins was very polite. 

“No, I couldn’t,” answered the Rose 
good-naturedly, “but I shouldn’t be sur¬ 
prised if the Moths could. They are al¬ 
ways flying around the houses of Mor¬ 
tals, and are out a good deal at night, 
too.” 

She called to her one of the beautiful 
little silver and gold Nightmoths who 
were flying about in the moonlight, and 
asked him if he knew the way to Tom¬ 
mykins’ house,— and if he would take 
him home? 

“Yes, indeed, I know where he lives, 
well enough,” replied the Moth, “but I 
wouldn’t go near that house for any¬ 
thing. You see, I can’t go anywhere 
near a human house without seeing all 
98 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


those lovely lamps, and candles, and 
my family have nearly all been burnt 
up by them. I couldn’t think of taking 
him home,” and the Moth flew away 
without more ado. 

“Dear me,” observed the Rose with 
another giggle, “how selfish some peo¬ 
ple are. Now, if I could get free from 
my stalk I should love to help you, but, 
as }mu see, I am tied close at home. 
But at least you are perfectly safe here; 
no one is going to eat you. So sit down 
and make yourself comfortable. Will 
you have a drink of honey and dew?” 

Tommykins took a long drink of 
honey and dew, and found it even nicer 
than ice cream. While he was drinking 
it, he heard the most wonderful music. 
He couldn’t tell whether it was a flute, 
or someone singing, so he jumped up, 
and bidding the Rose a pleasant good- 


99 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


night, ran deeper into the enchanted 
wood. 

“Look out, look out!” the Rose called 
after him, “you’ll never get back if you 
go in there,” but Tommykins kept on. 

He just couldn’t help it,—the music 
pulled him along. He ran and ran, till 
presently he came to a ring something 
like the Gnome King’s, only it was 
larger and the grass was softer. The 
trees were covered with Fireflies and 
they, with the brilliant moonlight, made 
it almost as light as day. The grass 
was covered with bluebells, which 
waved in the breeze and shook their 
lovely heads so that they tinkled like 
real little silver bells. But that was 
only part of the music, for sitting on a 
stump at one end of the ring was a man 
dressed in skins, playing on two pipes 
which he held to his mouth both at the 
same time. When Tommykins looked 

100 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


closely, he saw that this man had feet 
and legs exactly like a goat, which cer¬ 
tainly did make him look funny, but he 
seemed jolly and, my! how he did play 
on those two pipes of his. 

There was another man, or rather 
boy, with a queer face and pointed ears, 
and he was dancing with the prettiest 
girl Tommykins had ever seen. Indeed, 
Tommykins thought that when he was 
grown up he would like very well to 
marry her, if she would wait for him. 

“Oh!” cried this pretty girl, stopping 
her dance at sight of Tommykins, 
“whatever have we here?” 

“It’s a young Mortal,” spoke up the 
man with the pipes, “I have drawn him 
here with my merry music.” He turned 
to Tommykins, “Do you like the pipes?” 
he asked. 

“Yes, your music is beautiful. And 


101 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

so are you,” Tommykins added to the 
girl. 

She laughed, and said lightly, “Many 
have told me that,— but who are you 
and what are you doing here, in our en¬ 
chanted wood?” 

Tommykins then told them all about 
his adventures up in the sky, as well as 
with the Tree-toad; of how he was tried 
before the Gnome King, and the three 
listeners were much interested. 

“Now,” said the girl, “I will tell you 
who we are. To begin with the lady— 
which is always polite, you know—I am 
the Wood Nymph. I live here, and keep 
these two in order. This is Faun,” she 
went on, introducing the boy with 
whom she had been dancing. 

“Why, I always thought a Fawn was a 
kind of Deer,” Tommykins answered in¬ 
nocently. 


102 



‘SITTING ON A STUMP WAS A MAN DRESSED IN 
SKINS, PLAYING ON TWO PIPES.” 





















TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“And he is a dear,” stated the man 
with the goat’s legs, “d-e-a-r.” 

“This jolly fellow, who is always mak¬ 
ing jokes, is Pan,” the Wood Nymph 
continued. “After this, whenever you 
hear some sweet music, and can’t just 
tell where it comes from, you will know 
that it is Pan, playing in the woods.” 

“Are you any relation to Peter Pan?” 
asked Tommykins. “I know him. I’ve 
seen him three times in the theatre.” 

“Own cousin,” Pan said airily, “but I 
don’t see much of him since he went on 
the stage.” 

“Then you don’t know Wendy, and all 
the other Darlings?” cried Tommykins. 

“Oh, yes, we do,” the Wood Nymph 
said. “Peter brought them all out in 
the forest to see us, and we had a lovely 
time.” 

“Did you ever happen to see ‘The Pied 


103 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


Piper of Hamlin’ in the theatre?” Pan 
inquired. 

“Yes, indeed,” answered Tommykins, 
eagerly, “and isn’t he just grand!” 

“Very fine fellow,” agreed Pan, “but 
I’ll tell you one thing about him, and 
that is: that if I hadn’t lent him one of 
my pipes for those performances, he 
never would have got those children to 
follow him.” 

“We know them all,” Faun boasted, 
“the children in ‘The Blue Bird,’ Hansel 
and Gretel, too. They all come here and 
play sometimes.” 

“But do really grown .people ever visit 
you?” Tommykins was thinking how 
much he would like to bring his Mother 
and Father here to play. 

“Not many,” said the Wood Nymph, 
smiling. “Very, verjr few, but those that 
do come forget that they are grown up, 
while they are here.” 


104 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Well, I certainly am glad I got lost, 
’cause if I hadn’t I shouldn’t have had 
the pleasure of meeting you all, but I’m 
afraid if I don’t go home now my Mother 
will be dreadfully worried.” 

“Yes, indeed,” the Wood Nymph as¬ 
sented, “we must try—right away—to 
find a path that will take you home. We 
might ask the elm tree Dryad over there. 
You say you have an elm in your yard; 
she ought to know all her relations, and 
where they live. Let’s go and ask her.” 

They all walked over to a beautiful 
elm tree, which was growing near by, 
and the Wood Nymph called out: “O, 
dear Dryad, please come out. The Wood 
Nymph would speak to you.” 

A lovely voice answered, “I come,” 
and a pretty girl poked her head right 
through the bark of the tree, just as the 
Oldest Tree Spirit had appeared when 
the Gnome King called him forth. 


105 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


“Dear Dryad,” said the beautiful 
Wood Nymph, “this little boy has lost 
his way in our enchanted wood, and we 
thought you might be able to help us find 
a path which will take him home again. 
One of youf cousins lives in his yard, I 
think. 

“Yes,” and the Dryad smiled at Tom- 
mykins, “the Moths have been telling 
me about him, and all his troubles with 
the little creatures of the wood. ’Twas I 
who sent the Rabbit to him with the let¬ 
tuce leaf. I feared that harm might 
come to him through myjcousin, the Old 
Oak. He has suffered much, and is bit¬ 
ter against human beings. I have already 
sent a message by one of the Elves to the 
boy’s dog, and he will be here presently 
to lead his master home.” 

“Not Toodlekins—really,” cried Tom- 
nrykins in delight. “He’s a darling, and I 
never forget to pat him every night and 


106 



“A PRETTY GIRL POKED HER HEAD RIGHT 
THROUGH THE BARK OF THE TREE.” 














TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


tell him I hope his ear will be better in 
the morning. You know the Ticks bit 
it so that Father had to put tar on it. 
I love him, even if he can’t ever go to the 
Moon.” 

“He loves you, too,” said the Dryad, 
“and here he comes now.” 

Sure enough, there came little Toodle- 
kins, trotting soberly toward them 
through the wood. Tommykins called 
loudly to him, and Toodlekins gave a 
bark which sounded for all the world 
like a shout, so that Tommykins was not 
at all surprised to hear him say, as he 
drew near: 

“Well, well, Tommykins, what have 
you got into now? I thought you’d 
need me sooner or later, with all these 
wild adventures.” 

The Wood Nymph, Pan and the Faun 
all followed Tommykins—after he had 
said good-bye to the Dryad—all the way 


107 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


to the entrance of the enchanted wood. 
They couldn’t go any farther for fear 
they would be turned into Mortals, and 
of all things they dreaded that the most. 
They stood and waved till Tommykins 
and Toodlekins were out of sight. 

“Come again, come again!” they 
called, and their voices grew fainter and 
fainter as Tommykins and Toodlekins 
hurried home. It did not take long, 
either, for Toodlekins knew a short-cut, 
but when they reached home Tommy¬ 
kins was so tired that he thought he 
would just sit down on the porch and 
rest a minute. He leaned his head against 
a pillar of the porch and he certainly 
must have gone to sleep, for the next 
thing he knew or heard was his Father 
calling, and little Toodlekins barking. 

“Come, come, son, wake up.” His 
Father lifted him from the porch and set 
him high on his shoulder. “If you keep 


108 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 


on going to sleep on the front porch, sir, 
we may forget you some fine night and 
leave you out here among the Crickets 
and Frogs—and how would you like 
that?” 

“Well,” murmured Tommykins sleepi¬ 
ly,” of course they weren’t all Crickets 
and Frogs, nor Tree-toads, either. 
There was the Wood Nymph, you 
know.” 

“The Wood Nymph, you say?” laugh¬ 
ed his Father. “So you have been associ¬ 
ating with her, have you?” 

“I’m not surprised at his playing with 
anything, poor child, the way you talk 
and read to him, filling his little brain 
with all sorts of stuff,” said Mother, 
smoothing Tommykins’ hair. 

“Well, anyhow, he’s got a regular 
boy’s brain to be filled, haven’t you, 
Tommykins? But, son, don’t run 
around too much with Wood Nymphs. 


109 


TOMMYKINS’ ADVENTURES 

They are pretty dangerous ladies some¬ 
times.” 

“She was pretty, wasn’t she, Tood- 
lekins?” Tommykins called over his 
Father’s shoulder to the small dog, who 
was lying quietly on the grass in front of 
the porch. Toodlekins wagged his tail. 
He didn’t say a word, and of course, 
Tommykins understood this perfectly, 
for dogs can only talk when they are on 
enchanted ground—as every one knows 
very well. 

Tommykins began to tell his Father 
all about the long trips he had taken, the 
gay parties he had seen, but he went to 
sleep almost as soon as he had begun, 
though not before his Father had made 
a promise to go with him some time to 
that far, enchanted wood. 

THE END 


130 


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4 


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